NEBRASKA JUDGES AGAIN LIKELY TO RECEIVE PAY RAISES, CONSISTENT SINCE 2005

LINCOLN — As pay raises for Nebraska’s constitutional officers and state lawmakers remain stagnant for decades, the state’s 148 judges are once again likely to receive salary bumps over the next two fiscal years, as they’ve had for 30 of the past 36 years. Nebraska judges have routinely gotten salary bumps since 2005, with annual July 1 increases in all but 2011 and 2018. Even in 2018, to make up for it, judges got two raises in 2019: Jan. 1 and July 1.

This year, Legislative Bill 513, from State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, as chair of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, seeks to offer 1.5% salary raises in each of the next two fiscal years — on July 1 and again July 1, 2026. Under LB 513, which is one vote away from passing, the seven justices on the Nebraska Supreme Court would be paid $228,431.18 on July 1. This would rise to $231,857.65 on July 1, 2026.  

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NEBRASKANS TO DECIDE IN 2026 WHETHER TO ALLOW THREE FOUR-YEAR TERMS IN LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Nebraskans now know the first ballot measure or constitutional amendment voters will consider in 2026: whether state lawmakers can serve up to three consecutive four-year terms, instead of two. 

The change comes with the 39-10 approval Wednesday of Legislative Resolution 19CA, from State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk and 22 other senators. Nebraskans implemented the current limits of two four-year terms for state senators via a voter-led initiative in 2000. It passed with 55.8% of the vote. Senators can sit out one term after being term-limited and run again.

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OLD OMAHA STEEL PLANT REBORN AS CATALYST MEDICAL-CENTRIC OFFICE HUB, INVESTMENT REACHES $97M

OMAHA — Two decrepit buildings with an alley between them. That’s how developer Jay Lund recalls the defunct midtown Omaha steel plant some four years ago when his team began contemplating a conversion project that partnered with the neighboring University of Nebraska Medical Center.

On Wednesday, the site was crawling with academic, business, and community members for a public unveiling of the repurposed product: the Catalyst, a 170,000-square-foot co-working hub expected to incubate new medical inventions, draw talent, and burnish the area’s reputation as a healthcare and research magnet. So far, 20% full with 18 tenants, officials say investment in the private-public venture will reach about $97 million, $29 million of which is university funds and $6.3 million of which is public tax-increment financing from the City of Omaha.

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PILLEN WITHDRAWS LINE-ITEM BUDGET VETOES NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS SAID WERE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday withdrew his intended $14.5 million in general fund line-item vetoes to Nebraska’s next two-year budget, ending a possible constitutional dispute among the state’s three branches of government.

Pillen joined Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Speaker of the Legislature John Arch to announce an end to the short-lived line-item veto saga Tuesday. The line-item vetoes were first identified last Wednesday in a letter to the Legislature, but the actual budget bills with his marked-up objections were not filed with the Legislature until Thursday morning. 

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WATERED-DOWN VERSION OF NEBRASKA EDUCATION PACKAGE ADVANCES AS CLEAN-UP BILL

LINCOLN — An education bill that was once a vehicle for an education package advanced Thursday a lot leaner, as many of the proposals previously included failed to be attached as amendments to the bill. 

Legislative Bill 306, which largely is clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education, was brought back for debate after a previous attempt at the education package failed on the floor after lawmakers removed Central City’s State Sen. Loren Lippincott’s proposal allowing K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework. Lost in the shuffle again were three proposals that were once married — a measure that would have given Nebraska teachers more paid time off around significant life events, one offering student loan help for special education teachers, and the release time proposal.  

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NEBRASKA GOV. JIM PILLEN ANNOUNCES REELECTION BID AMID HERBSTER SPECULATION

LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a day after passage of a bill he supported limiting participation in women’s sports to a student athlete’s sex at birth, kicked off his second campaign for governor with a red-meat appeal to his Republican base. 

The first-term governor’s campaign video emphasized his role in signing “the largest income tax cut in Nebraska history” and says he “reduced property taxes,” done mainly by having the state absorb more of the costs of community colleges from property taxpayers. Pillen touted his rural roots as Nebraska’s first active farmer as governor in at least a century. His family runs a massive hog operation based in Columbus, Pillen Family Farms. He is also a veterinarian and former University of Nebraska regent.

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FACING RESEARCH CUTS, REP. FLOOD HOPES NEBRASKA COMES OUT ON TOP

First District Rep. Mike Flood told a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce crowd Thursday he believes Nebraska's interests can be supported under President Donald Trump. Flood said after federal cuts to University of Nebraska-Lincoln research funding were announced, he personally visited East Campus to ask researchers not to leave.

“There is going to be a transition, but when the sun comes up, I hope that the one land grant university in the nation that is at the forefront of ag research is UNL,” the Republican former state lawmaker said. 

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LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION SUSPENDS DIRECTOR, CITING JOINT FEDERAL-STATE INVESTIGATION

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission suspended its executive director, Hobert “Hobie” Rupe, without pay Thursday after a federal search warrant was served on the commission a day before.

The now two-member commission met for less than 3 minutes. Commissioner Bruce Bailey of Lincoln, the commission chair, said the search warrant came based on “a joint federal-state investigation into alleged criminal conduct...These alleged offenses relate to his fitness and ability to continue to serve in his present position,” Bailey said. “An immediate suspension is necessary pending receipt of further information.”

A spokesperson for the FBI Omaha office confirmed federal agents executed the search warrant Wednesday, and no arrests were made.

Rupe began serving as the Liquor Control Commission’s executive director Jan. 15, 2004. He previously served almost 10 years as an assistant attorney general. Rupe is admitted to practice before the Nebraska Supreme Court, the local U.S. District Court, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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LAWMAKERS BACK PILLEN VETO, KILL BILL TO LIFT LIFETIME BAN ON FOOD AID FOR SOME WITH DRUG PASTS

LINCOLN — Despite three consecutive bipartisan votes this year to lift a lifetime ban on public food aid for some Nebraskans with past drug felonies, the Legislature on Monday did an about-face that put a nail in the bill’s coffin. The only change between the 32-17 vote on May 14 that favored Legislative Bill 319, noted State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha and others, was a veto by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.

“If you change your mind, if you don’t have the backbone to stand by your vote — on food, to people who don’t have it — I don’t really know what you stand for,” DeBoer told colleagues. Despite pleas by her and others, including the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Victor Rountree of Bellevue, who invoked several Bible passages about forgiveness, the Legislature voted 24-24 to uphold the governor’s veto. The bill needed 30 votes to override Pillen’s veto.

That means the status quo stands, with state law prohibiting anyone who has been convicted of selling or distributing a controlled substance from accessing SNAP benefits (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). People with three or more felonies for possessing or using illegal drugs also are ineligible, but state law allows Nebraskans with one or two drug possession or use convictions access to SNAP if they complete a licensed treatment program. Rountree’s priority bill would have lifted the ban entirely under certain circumstances, such as if the offender completed their criminal sentence or was serving a term of parole or on post-release supervision. Also under Rountree’s bill, a person with three or more felony convictions for drug possession or use had to participate in an accredited substance abuse treatment program unless a health care provider determined it was not needed. 

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CASS COUNTY TRAIL PROJECT HITS ANOTHER SETBACK, THIS TIME WITH STATE FUNDS

LINCOLN - For the second time in a month, a long-sought project to bridge a gap between recreation trails from Omaha and Lincoln has seen a setback. On Thursday, state lawmakers gave final approval to a two-year state budget that includes several budget cuts and clawbacks millions in previous funding to help close a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall.

Among the previously allocated funds taken back was $3.35 million from a trail development fund, which was part of an $8.3 million earmark the Nebraska Legislature made to build an 8-mile-long trail across rural Cass County. That trail would fill the gap between the Mo-Pac Trail, which ends in Wabash, and the trail across the Lied Bridge, which ends just south of the Platte River. The cutback comes a couple of weeks after the Cass County Board declined to approve a route for the trail, effectively rescinding a route approval made in November, that left the future of the recreation trail project to connect eastern Nebraska trails in limbo.

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NEBRASKA ED PACKAGE BLOWS UP, AS PUSH TO INFUSE RELIGION INTO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FAILS

LINCOLN — An uneasy compromise that became the Education Committee package bill died on the Nebraska statehouse floor Wednesday, in part because the quest to infuse more religion into public schools failed. A cross-section of committee members tried to get a group of loosely related education proposals out of committee and onto the floor for a month.

The combined bill was viewed as a bipartisan deal involving several groups, including the conservative chair of the committee and the state’s largest teachers union, to marry a proposal that would allow K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework to a bill from State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha that would help schools find more long-term substitutes so teachers could take paid time off around significant life events. Some who backed the deal have said that parents can already sign out their kids for any reason and that they do not see it as a state endorsement of religion. Other lawmakers have expressed that it would open the door for other religious-themed bills.

The floor debate was like many of the tense executive sessions on the package. The deal blew up on the floor after State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha successfully removed Central City’s State Sen. Loren Lippincott’s Legislative Bill 550, a release time proposal, killing the whole package. While the original deal is dead – lawmakers involved in negotiations let lawmakers skip over the bill. Their aim: to bring back a cleaner version of LB 306 — mainly some clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address change terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education in the session’s final days while giving lawmakers an opportunity to attach their proposals to it individually and let the full Legislature vote on each. 

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SALES TAX, TOBACCO TAX PUSH DOOM NEBRASKA’S ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIE

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s version of “One Big Beautiful Bill” for property tax relief went up in smoke Monday despite an effort to narrow new revenues to increased taxes on cigarettes and vapes. It becomes the third property tax package in the past year to propose and fail to garner traction to use new sales tax revenues to lower property taxes. It also deals a significant blow to Gov. Jim Pillen’s pledge to keep property taxes flat this year as he eyes reelection.

Legislative Bill 170, led by State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, failed 30-15. It needed 33 votes to overcome a filibuster from opponents across the political spectrum who opposed the tax “shift. The proposal originally sought to add sales taxes to 20 currently exempt goods or services, including pop, dating services, chartered jets, swimming pool cleaning and maintenance services, and pet grooming. It also sought to hike the taxes on cigarettes (up to $1.36) and vapes (up to 40%). The original package anticipated $110 million in new revenue, with $100 million directed to property tax credits to offset property taxes paid to local K-12 school districts.

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NEBRASKA FIRST IN NATION TO BAN SODA, ENERGY DRINKS FROM PUBLIC GROCERY AID BENEFITS

LINCOLN — Nebraska has become the first state in the nation to restrict low-income recipients of public grocery aid from using SNAP benefits to buy soda and energy drinks. The ban related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was announced Monday during a daylong visit to the Cornhusker state by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“There’s absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks,” said Pillen. Rollins called the move “historic” and, in a statement, called Pillen a pioneer, along with the governors of six other states, in improving health in the nation. The waiver amends the definition of food products to be purchased by SNAP benefits, excluding soda, soft drinks, and energy drinks.

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JUDGE CONSIDERING WHETHER TO DISMISS NEBRASKA MEDICAL CANNABIS PREEMPTION LAWSUIT

LINCOLN — A Lancaster County district judge is reviewing whether to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Nebraska’s voter-approved medical cannabis laws violate federal law after in-person arguments Tuesday. This is the second medical cannabis case to reach District Judge Susan Strong, who in late November ruled against a pre-election lawsuit challenging that the ballot measures shouldn’t have been placed on the ballot because of allegedly fraudulent notarizations. Strong rejected those arguments. In the latest case, Strong must first decide whether to let the federal preemption case proceed based on whether a longtime marijuana opponent, John Kuehn, has the necessary “standing” to sue.

That’s the legal term of art required for cases to proceed, meaning that Kuehn, a former state senator and former member of the State Board of Health, must show injury as a result of the new medical cannabis laws legalizing and regulating the drug. The ballot measures overwhelmingly passed in November, with 71% approval for legalization and 67% approval for a regulatory law. Tuesday’s arguments came on the same day state lawmakers are considering LB 677, a separate effort to create a clearer regulatory scheme around medical cannabis to assist in the program’s implementation.

Many of the arguments in court on Tuesday mirrored legal briefs filed earlier. Largely, they argue that Kuehn is not the right party to challenge the measures under “taxpayer standing,” or that, as a taxpayer, he should get to challenge “illegal” taxpayer spending. All 11 defendants named in the case from Kuehn have filed to dismiss the case. Attorney Jason Grams, for the three members of the new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission that voters’ regulatory law established, told Strong no taxpayer funds had been spent by Jan. 10, when Kuehn amended his lawsuit to include the commissioners.

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MEDICAL CANNABIS REGULATORY BILL STALLS AND LATE PUSH TO PROTECT NEBRASKA DOCTORS WHO RECOMMEND MEDICAL CANNABIS FALLS SHORT

LINCOLN — A legislative proposal seeking to help implement Nebraska’s voter-approved medical cannabis laws failed Tuesday, facing a tougher floor fight than four years ago despite widespread support in November. The latest measure, Legislative Bill 677, failed to garner the 33 votes needed to shut off a filibuster, with the bipartisan effort to stop debate falling 23-22. The regulatory push secured the support of eight Republicans, 14 Democrats, and one nonpartisan progressive in the officially nonpartisan 49-member body (State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, the only other Democrat, was absent from the final vote but had supported the bill).

Republican State Sens. John Arch of La Vista, Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln and Merv Riepe of Ralston declined to take a position and were “present, not voting.” State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, a Republican with a Libertarian bent who sponsored LB 677, sought to appeal to his conservative colleagues that “on a limb,” everyone could agree that medical cannabis could at least help someone.

A late legislative attempt Wednesday to give additional protections to health care practitioners who recommend medical cannabis to Nebraska patients fell well short of moving forward, a day after a broader medical cannabis regulatory bill stalled. State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha sought to add those physician liability protections Wednesday to a broader Health and Human Services Committee bill: LB 376. The measure seeks to slash various reporting requirements and make other changes primarily in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Cavanaugh said his effort was a “solution” that would be a “small but meaningful step” for some of the families who showed up Tuesday for LB 677, the medical cannabis regulatory bill from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. LB 677 failed 23-22, falling 10 votes short of overcoming an all-day filibuster.

“Give these families some hope, some opportunity to get access to what the voters approved at over 70%,” Cavanaugh told his colleagues. “Vote to give doctors some small protection if they follow their conscience and their training.” Under the ballot measures approved in November, a patient can possess up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis for any condition with a health care practitioner’s recommendation.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS GREENLIGHT NEW COMMITTEE TO WATCH OVER PRISONS, DHHS

LINCOLN — More than a year after Nebraska’s executive branch shunned legislative oversight of the state’s troubled prison and child welfare systems in a violation of state law, the Legislature moved Wednesday to establish a permanent oversight committee meant to resolve constitutional concerns that led to the lockout.

Lawmakers voted 39-3 to give first-round approval Wednesday to a bill that would rewrite Nebraska’s legislative oversight laws and establish an obvious chain-of-command from lawmakers to watchdogs tasked with keeping an eye on the Departments of Correctional Services and Health and Human Services. The bill is meant to address concerns that Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers raised in a legal opinion in 2023, in which he suggested that lawmakers had delegated their oversight authority to those “unsupervised” watchdogs, known as the inspectors general, in a move Hilgers claimed was unconstitutional. Though Hilgers’ opinion was nonbinding, the prison and child welfare systems — both arms of the executive branch — almost immediately shut off access the inspectors general had to agency facilities and records, leaving the Legislature without meaningful oversight of the agencies for six months. 

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IDEAS FLOW AT PUBLIC MEETING FOR NEW NORTH OMAHA INNOVATION DISTRICT FUELED BY $30M STATE GRANT

OMAHA — Could North Omaha create its own version of Kansas City’s Keystone Innovation District? Or Indianapolis’ 16 Tech, or the RICE innovation hub in Atlanta, which focuses on building Black businesses? The three campuses were spotlighted Wednesday as examples of entrepreneurial and tech-centric hubs akin to what could be built locally as the Omaha Inland Port Authority embarks on its newest mission: development of an innovation district, funded partly with $30 million in state funding.

Nearly 100 people turned out for the public meeting that kicked off a six-month visioning process for the new district, which is to be developed within the boundaries of the port authority’s roughly 3,000 acres in North Omaha, near Eppley Airfield. Davielle Phillips, an Omaha architect who is vice chair of the port authority board, said the initiative got off to a good start, with more participation than anticipated at the meeting held at the Venue at Highlander Accelerator. 

The board is also overseeing the development of an industrial-focused business park funded by a separate $90 million state grant. That initiative, in contrast, was beset early on by criticism that the development team did not seek enough public engagement and input.

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PILLEN VETOES $14.5 MILLION IN BUDGET — INCLUDING FUNDS TARGETING SUPREME COURT AND OMAHA BEDBUG BILL

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen line-item vetoed $14.5 million in general fund appropriations from Nebraska’s legislatively approved budget for the next two years late Wednesday, 83% of which was earmarked for the Nebraska Supreme Court. In his veto letter returning Legislative Bill 261, the general spending budget bill, and LB 264, a bill allocating various state cash funds, Pillen thanked lawmakers for closing a major projected budget deficit for the next two years while making investments in education, developmental disability support, and national security. 

He returned four items he said are “necessary to honor our commitment to fiscal restraint,” and that the small number of objections reflects “the depth of fiscal conservatism” in the budget. “It is critical that we continue to treat nickels like manhole covers, and I urge you to sustain four additional reductions to improve our fiscal position,” Pillen wrote. If the vetoes are sustained, the Legislature would still finish the budget with a positive balance of $1.1 million, because Pillen’s approach would reduce spending instead of using as much money from the “rainy day” cash reserve fund. His approach reduces by about $14.5 million a transfer from the cash reserves. The lawmaker-approved state budget calls for transferring $147 million from cash reserves to help close a half-billion-dollar projected budget deficit. 

Gov. Jim Pillen has also squashed, at least for now, a legislative effort to help Omaha public housing residents get rid of a persistent bed bug problem, vetoing an Urban Affairs Committee bill pushed by a North Omaha lawmaker. 

LB 287 sought quicker and better remedies to bedbug infestations and other concerns voiced by low-income residents of the Omaha Housing Authority, primarily those who live in publicly subsidized apartment towers. The proposed intervention followed public outcry by OHA residents and advocates, including a class-action lawsuit led by a group of current or former residents of 10 public housing high-rise apartments and represented by attorney and former State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha and two Iowa lawyers who specialize in bedbug cases.

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LAWMAKERS WILL RECONSIDER SLOWING NEBRASKA’S MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES – BUT LIKELY VOTE NEXT YEAR

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature will retake a vote on a proposal to slow down voter-approved minimum wage increases – but likely not this session.  A Democratic-led minority and Republican-led majority in the officially nonpartisan body fought Thursday over whether to allow reconsideration of the vote on Lincoln State Sen. Jane Raybould’s Legislative Bill 258.

Raybould, whose family owns a grocery store chain that includes Super Saver, is the lone Democrat supporting the slowdown. State Sen. Dave Wordekemper of Fremont is the lone Republican opposing the bill. The rest of the Legislature’s Democrats and one nonpartisan progressive who usually votes with them argued against ignoring “the will of the people.” They celebrated a brief tactical victory on May 14 by forcing a faster vote while one GOP senator was off the floor and missed the vote.

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‘PUBLIC SAFETY’ PACKAGE CLEARS LATEST HURDLE, OFFERS CHANGES BUT KEEPS LOWER DETENTION AGE OF 11

LINCOLN — A “public safety” package on Thursday cleared a second lawmaking hurdle and retains what has been the most controversial element — lowering the minimum age at which a youth can be detained from 13 to 11. 

Before Legislative Bill 530 passed on a 35-9 vote, however, lawmakers approved smaller juvenile-justice related changes to address some concerns of certain lawmakers and nonprofits, said State Sen. Carolyn Bosn, chair of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. Among modifications was a requirement that all temporary and alternative placement options be exhausted before a child aged 11 or 12 would be detained in a facility, which critics say causes lasting trauma.

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